Automatic stop roller for shades



O. E. EDSTROM AUTOIATIC STOP ROLLER FO R SHADES Filed Jan; 15, 1923 I I XIIIIJZ IIIIIIIIIII u a. N

Patented Feb. 16, 1926.

umrsn STATES PATENT OFFIQE.

OTTO E. EDSTROM, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR T0 ILLINOIS PATENTS COR- PORATION, OF CARY, ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION OIE ILLINOIS.

AUTOMATIC STOP ROLLER FOR SHADES.

Application filed January 15, 1923. Serial No. 612,579.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, Or'ro E. Eosrnon, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of the city of Chicago, in the county of Cook 5 and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in an Automatic Stop Roller for Shades; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the same,

10 reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the numerals of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

This invention relates to shade rollers of the type in which a helical driving member moves a driven member lengthwise ofv the roller, and the stopping point is determined by the arrival of the traveler at the end of its longitudinal movement. The present invention is an improvement over the device shown in my Patent No. 1,303,182 for an Automatic stop for window shade rollers, granted May 6th, 1919. One characteristic difference between the present invention and said patent is that in the patent the automatic stop is a separate article of manufacture and is attached to the roller when desired, while the present invention contemplates a rollerin which the stop mechanism is within and constitutes a part of the roller itself and is sold with the roller as one article.

It is an object of this invention to build a roller with the stop mechanism and rewind 'mechanism all within one endof the roller, so that the user can cut the roller to the needed length without being obliged to make'allowance for the space occupied by the stop mechanism or otherwise pay attention thereto. Moreover, the end of the roller which he so cuts is provided with the ordinary cap supplied with a round pivot so that the user does not need to use care to place a cap supplied with a non-rotative projection in the correct'position relative to the non-rotative projection. at the other end of the roller.

.It is a further object of this invention to provide a roller in which the rewind spring 0 is always under tension instead of said pr. e. P tted to unwin e en when the roller is released from the fixtures. It is true that the usual type of roller can be removed from the fixtures without releasing the rewind spring if care is taken to keep the pawls of the ratchet device engaged, but in this invention the pawls may disengage without letting the rewind spring relax.

It is a further object of my invention to provide an arrangement of rewind mechanism, stop mechanism and roller wherein the alignment of the parts is obtained by the manufacture and not left to the man who fits'the roller to its particular window.

. It is a further object of my invention to make a mechanism of the class described which shall be less expensive to manufacture. This I accomplish by, among other things, doing away with and instead providing space for the stop mechanism by making the bore for the rewind mechanism extend further than said rewind mechanism alone requires.

It is a further object of my invention to avoid requiring the man who fits the roller to its individual window to perform any difficult or accurate mechanical operation. 7

It is a further object of my invention to use one shaft both for the rewind mechanism and for the stop mechanism.

It is a further ob ect of this invention to all extra housings so arrange the various parts of the mechanism that stop mechanism may be placed in the extreme inner end of the recess in the roller.

Other and further important objects of this invention will be apparent from the disclosures in the specification and the accompanying drawings.

The invention (in aprefcmred form) is illustrated in the drawings and hereinafter more fully described.

011 the drawings:

Figure 1 is a longitudinal section.

Figure 2 is a view partly in elevation and partly in section showing a modification.

Figure 3 is a similar view showing another modification.

Figure d is a detail showing the structure of a fastening used in the modification shown in Figure .2,

Figure is a section upon the line 5 o Figure 1.

Figure 6 is a of Figure 1.

shown on the drawings:

The rolle has the usual cylindrical body 10 with a long concentric bore 11 in one end thereof. which is fastened the usual fixture 111" her 13 projecting beyond the end of the roller and intended to cooperate with the usual section upon the line (3-5 curtain fixture to prevent rotation of the. .shaitt 12.

illustrated in Figure, 1, but when a metal- 1M1 i 'i i j 1H1} r no siaisnse no eiiu lsncec et.. 1 is ferrule serves aheerrng for a. spring anchorage. 15, which is preferably inythe form f oijanother thi ni'ile set over the i 'enrule. and having eers, 16, extending round one, or more turns or the springl'i. The end of the spring is hooked on one of these ears, as shown at 18 in Figure 5. The eerslG-ereset in recesses in the wood and are turned, to-v wards the endo'f the rOller and passthrough a plate 19v which is. providedwith slots to receive them. lh e ,ent s.ot.the ears are then hent flat againstthis plate, thus securing;- the parts together, The plate 19 provided with, an upstandingflange2O whicn s rves to spacethefinishing thinible 21 away from the plate 19. The skirt ofthe fir' hing-cap 2i extends down overthe outsidelo'li theroller and is secured thereto in any,well-known manner, for eXan1ple,-hyindentations22. In the space between the plate 19 and theplite,

are mounted the usual ratchet pawls iand.

7 dcitent wheeh which are of standard constructionend need not; he described. The ears 16 being inne resin the wood. prevent the anchorage 1Q lro'nirotating; relative to the roller. Consequently the end ot the springl'? nea-restthe end of the roller rotated with therollcr. lhe other end of the spring is inserted, as shown at into: slot 2e in the stationary shalt 1.2;. Preferably this end 23' is closely adjacent the end of the slot, as is indicatedhy the shoulder ofFigureJ.

Surrounding the slotted part of the sha helix; otspring wire. I this terminates in; strni 'ht p iece 2"? by which the helix is anel' ljn the preferred form,

the, Corre ponding 'lhe bore contains a shaft 12. to.

which crnrtains thefixtureineinher 13 may he capped by. a, te lgrul'e Hot the ord nary. thnnb-le torni,

t Qne end of wire carried through the blo k 28 and bent against the end thereof an fastened by a staple 5 .3. The block 28 is fastened in any desired manner, for example, by a bred 54L The otherend ot the hei Q6 is-provided with a hook 4-2 which acts as a yielding stop for the linl: 30.

In the 'inodilication shown in Figures 2 and 4-, the thiinhle 1% on the end oi the stationary shift 12 is provided with hooks by which theend of the spring 17 is secured. Thus the end of the spring nearest the lire ture in Figure 2 is secured not to the rotating roller butto the stationary shaft. The other or inner endo't the spring; inusttherefore be secured, not to the-shaft but to. the

roller. Cllhisrequires that the spring-17 he. wound in the oppositedirection to the spring.

hymeans of a.straightened end ot the spring.

itself.

to acconnnodzate the shaft 2, audit isseeurel to the roller in any desired way, for eze ample by a, brad 39. The, helix26, made of spring wire, has its inner end; secure; tothe roller, as shown at l1. and its outer or left hand end is. provided with hook 421 to'serVe as a. limit to the. outward movement. of the link 30.

in they modification illustrated in Figurev 3, the blockv 36 is niede withehore 38 large enough to accommodate not, only th h ft.

172 butv also.thestreightened spring 37'. In

order. tov prevent relative rotation between the, end of this spring and the roller the brad 39 fastens. the block 36 in placeand the wireof'the spring 37 is fastened to the block in any; desire-'1 way... This. wire iscontinued toward,theinner end of the here 11, end .forinedinto s.- helix, 26 which d 'ives a link trarelingin the slot 2%.. but the.

helix26, iswound in the opposite way to the helix 25. T he. innerend of theheli"; 26'? is not fastened to any stationary supper terminates inahood 42;. Also theinnerend of the shaft. 12in this fornris not..rnounted in, a hearing; but. deoenes upon its .heari thehlocls: for maintenance in alignni in the assembly. of tee, form shownin Fig.- ure. 1', the helix 26 is first secured to the. block Q/Shy nieanso the straight end 2? and. the staplev 4-3, alreat the link 30 then put in place over one t n '1 ot thefhelix. The s leg 1?. placed ound theshaft 12, with the end 23 in the slot 24:, The ferrule 1 L andthe anchorage 15 are. put on the end.oivthe shett l2 and; the fixtureengagingoneniher. passed through them into the slot and secured by the per The other end of the. spring 1 7 then hoe ed to the The slit the 1? thereon is then inserts the 8; the link ng rec'ei ed m the but the shett is keptetthel ru This l locieis made wi h a bore 38,

hu t

the position illustrated in Figure 1 far enough for the cars 16 to be out of engagement with the wood of the roller.

The end of the fixture engaging member 13 is then held by a Vise or other convenient means and the anchorage 15 rotated until the correct minimum tension is put into thespring 17. Then the roller is moved toward the left in Figure 1- until the cars 16 are received in the recesses in the wood. The position of these recesses about the circumference is so chosen relative to the position of the straight wire 27 that when the link abuts against 27, the'notches in the detent disk will not be in engagement with the pawls. I

Finally, the cap 21 is put on and secured as indicated at 22.

In the assembly of the modification shown in Figure 2, the procedure is similar, except that the inner and not the outer end of the spring 17 is left unfastened until the proper tension is put upon this spring. This is done by omitting the brad 19 when the block 10 is first put in place. The tension is put on spring 17 by holding the fixture engaging member 13 and rotating the roller. lVhen the proper minimum tension is obtained,

driving the brad 49 makes it permanent. The rotation is stopped when the pawls are out of engagement and driving the brad 49 with them in this position insures that the straight part 4L1 of the wire 26 will be in proper position relative to the ratchet mechanism, except for the small changes possible by the few turns of rotation corresponding to the travel of the link 30 along the slot 2 1.

In the modification shown in Figure 3,the fastening for the spring 17 at the left is likeFigure ,4. In assembling this modif cation the cap 14 is left unsecured to the sh aft 12 and the cap 21 omitted until by rotating the roller with the cap 1 1 held still (for example, by securing the flange 56 in a vise), the desired minimum tension is secured. Then the cap 14, is secured to the shaft 12 and the cap 21 put in place andfastened In the operation of the device in the form shown in Figure l, the shade is attached to the roller in the usual way, rolled up and the roller put in place in the fixture. If the shade is drawn, the roller rotates in such a direction that the top side of Figure 1 moves away from observer. This causes the link 30 to travel toward the right. The length of the helix and so the travel of the link 30 is chosen to correspond to the distance the shade is to be unrolled. Each different height of window must therefore have its roller with a helix chosen to correspond to said height. Preferably the shade is made long enough to-have one or two complete turns remaining on the roller when th st 39 sets to th sa r its travel,

hen the link arrives at the straight part 27 of the wire 26, it is stopped thereby, which brings the roller to rest in a position in which neither of the pawls engages the detent disk. By slowly elevating the shade a small distance the roller will rotate backwards until one of the pawls engages a notch in said disk and the shade is held in its lowered position. But, if, with the shade at its extreme downward position, it is released without first being slowly elevated a small distance, the spring 17 will cause the roller to rotate relative to the stationary shaft 12 in the direction which makes the top part of Figure 1 advance from the paper. This causes the link 30 to travel toward the left in Figure 1. At the end of its travel, the link 30 is caught by the hook 42. Instead of meeting a solid stop, the link meets a yielding resistance due to the fact that this hook is at the end of a sprin So, even when the curtain goes up with a rush, it is brought gently to a stop, and, although the curtain goes up under the influence of the spring 17, this spring cannot unwind more than corresponds to the travel of the link 30. Even if the roller is removed from the curtain fixture bracket with the pawls disengaged from the detent disk, the spring 17 cannot unwind further because the shaft 12 cannot rotate relative to the roller 10 any further than the travel of the link 30 will permit.

The operation in the modification shown in Figure 2 is the same, and need not be explained in detail.

In the form shown in Figure 3, the abrupt stop of the link 00 is at the left and the yielding stop at the right. In this form therefore the pitch of the helix 26 is in the opposite direction.

I am aware that numerous details of construction may be varied through a wide range without departing from the principles of this invention, and I therefore do not purpose limiting the patent granted otherwise than necessitated by the prior art.

I claim as my invention:

1. In a device of the character described, a shade roller having an axial recess in one end, a spindle disposed in said recess, pawl. and ratchet mechanism between said roller and spindle, a rewind spring on paid spindle connected thereto and to said roller, yielding stop mechanism including a helical member on said spindle connected to rotate with said roller, and a travelii'ig member driven by said roller and moving in a longitudinal slot in said spindle. said stop mechanism being located at the inner end of said spindle, the means for connecting said spring and roller being so disposed with relation to the stop mechanism that when the latter reaches its extreme of movement with the shade unwound said pawl and ratchet mechanism, Will b ou of g fi ame-'78 2. In a'deviee of the character described, the inner slotted end of said. spindie and lo a shade roller. having an axialrecess in teting bodily with said-roller and a travel one end, a spindle disposed in said? ifeeess ing stop member disposed in said spindle W and slotted axially at its. inner end, a rewind slot. and driven by said roller spring on said spindle connected thereto and In testimony whereof I have hereunto to said roller, said: spring being extended subscribed my name. into an oppositely wound. helix embracing OTTO E. EDSTROBI. 

